Collective: Unconscious
Encyclopedia
Collective:Unconscious is a non-profit (501(c)(3)) corporation, founded in New York City in 1994, and incorporated in 1995. Originally based on Ludlow Street on New York's Lower East Side, in 2004 it relocated to Tribeca until July 2008.
Collective:Unconscious has had a notable effect on New York City's downtown culture, society, and entertainment, and has been recognized in the way of financial support by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the New York Department of Cultural Affairs, partial support from a 2001 Absolut Angel grant for art and technology, and a formal permanent position in the New York University
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
special Fales Library
Downtown Collection.
A nearby performance art space in the East Village
was known as Gargoyle Mechanique (Laboratory), Collective:Unconscious, and Unconscious Collective, and while some overlap between these organizations exists, they have no official affiliation with Collective:Unconscious or Collective:Unconscious Corporation.
Collective:Unconscious produced hundreds of performances through the 1990s and 2000s at its own facility as well as other locations. Members also supported performance sub-groups, such as Network 23, IFAM, com.om.site and Tribeca Lab Theater. These groups have mounted works at Collective's home facilities, the Knitting Factory, the BWAC festival at Red Hook, P.S. 122, Exit Art, Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, Theater for the New City
, La Plaza Cultural and the Sixth Street/Avenue B Garden, as well as touring internationally with the play Charlie Victor Romeo
. Collective:Unconscious also founded its own unofficial parade, the annual July 4 Monster Parade and in conjunction with sub-group IFAM, won several Coney Island Mermaid Parade contests in the Sea Monster category (see photo, left). Collective:Unconscious artists have participated in several festivals, on and off site, including the New York International Fringe Festival
, Underground Zero Festival, and the Downtown Arts Festival.
Artists who have participated in Collective:Unconscious include the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus
, Christopher X. Brodeur
, Patty Chang
, Jessica Delfino
, Faceboy
, Karen Finley
, Christian Finnegan
, Lloyd Floyd
, Janeane Garofalo
, Joey Gay
, Andrew J. Lederer
, Jonny McGovern
, Rev. Jen Miller
, Michael Portnoy
, the Trachtenberg Family Slideshow Players, and Nick Zedd
. A detailed list of these performances can be found at the Fales Collection at the Bobst Library of New York University
.
Collective:Unconscious Theater was officially established in a condemned brothel previously known as "Cucho Tailor" on Ludlow Street between Stanton Street and Rivington Street on the Lower East Side
of New York City
in 1994. In recognition of its sordid history, the first open performance in the space was also named "Cucho Tailor". Thousands of performances followed until 2004. In addition to hosting a number of unique series such as Reverend Jen's Anti-Slam
and Faceboy'z Open Mic
, Collective:Unconscious has also hosted several festivals, including the New York International Fringe Festival
, the Downtown Arts Festival, and the New York Lower East Side Film Festival.
The Collective at Ludlow Street shared a place in New York's off-off-Broadway and performance art theater history, along with fellow performance spaces in the neighborhood such as Surf Reality
, Todo Con Nada (Nada), Gargoyle Mechanique, The Present Company, House of Candles, and Pianos (Theater). It was noted as "entry-level Bohemia and thoroughly casual" by The New York Times
.
The Collective seated approximately 75 people in the main floor, and occasionally opened areas on the second floor and in the basement for special events, such as the annual "Auto-Historical Event" anniversary performance. As a commercial space Collective:Unconscious faced repeated increases in rent over the decade, which ultimately drove the Collective theater (as well as Surf Reality
, The Present Company
, House of Candles, and Todo Con Nada, among others) from the Lower East Side. The Collective:Unconscious theater was vacated in 2004, and subsequently demolished. As of 2010, the empty lot remains undeveloped.
Collective:Unconscious moved to its Tribeca location in 2004, and launched new initiatives with the theatrical group The Tank, theater-burlesque innovators Pinchbottom featuring Jonny Porkpie
and Nasty Canasta
, the annual Underground Zero festival, the New York International Fringe Festival
, Shifting Ambition Theater's No Alarms (Headfullofradio), and many others. Among the headliners were Karen Finley
and Neal Medlyn, Mike Daisey
, Annie Sprinkle
('Exposed: Experiments in Love, Sex, Death and Art'), and East River Commedia.
In July 2008, the Tribeca facility had to be abandoned due to a sewage situation. Collective:Unconscious, as an artistic organization, is currently reconstituting into a new art form.
Collective:Unconscious has had a notable effect on New York City's downtown culture, society, and entertainment, and has been recognized in the way of financial support by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the New York Department of Cultural Affairs, partial support from a 2001 Absolut Angel grant for art and technology, and a formal permanent position in the New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
The Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, often referred to as Bobst Library or Bobst, is the main library at New York University. Located at 70 Washington Square South between LaGuardia Place and the Schwartz pedestrian plaza, across from the southeast corner of Washington Square Park, it is named after...
special Fales Library
Fales Library
New York University's Fales Library and Special Collections is located on the third floor of the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library at 70 Washington Square South between LaGuardia Place and the Schwartz Plaza, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It houses nearly 200,000...
Downtown Collection.
A nearby performance art space in the East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
was known as Gargoyle Mechanique (Laboratory), Collective:Unconscious, and Unconscious Collective, and while some overlap between these organizations exists, they have no official affiliation with Collective:Unconscious or Collective:Unconscious Corporation.
History
The Collective: Unconscious started when a group of performance and visual artists took over the lease at 28 Ave.B from the performance group Gargoyle Mechanique Laboratory in 1991. The Collective started when Bob Berger and Dan Green moved in at 28 Ave B. and joined visual artist Miklos Legrady, who had lived with the Gargoyles and stayed through the transition. Miklos Legrady, Bob Berger and Dan Green formed the original Board of Directors, while an eccentric HIV survivor named Spinner was court jester. The logo and name were by Miklos Legrady while the performance psychology behind the Collective: Unconscious came from Dan Green and Bob Berger. The space consisted of a storefront theatre capable of seating 75, with living spaces for members in the back and basement. In 1994 a fire at 28 Ave B destroyed the space. The Collective members moved to Ludlow Street and reorganized as the Collective:Unconscious Theater.Theater for the New City
Theater for the New City, founded in 1971 and known familiarly as "TNC", is one of New York City's leading Off-Off-Broadway theaters, known for radical political plays and community commitment. Productions at TNC have won 43 Obie Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama...
, La Plaza Cultural and the Sixth Street/Avenue B Garden, as well as touring internationally with the play Charlie Victor Romeo
Charlie Victor Romeo
Charlie Victor Romeo is a 1999 play whose script consists of almost-verbatim transcripts from six real-life aviation accidents and incidents. "Charlie Victor Romeo," or CVR, derived from the NATO phonetic alphabet, is aviation lingo for cockpit voice recorder...
. Collective:Unconscious also founded its own unofficial parade, the annual July 4 Monster Parade and in conjunction with sub-group IFAM, won several Coney Island Mermaid Parade contests in the Sea Monster category (see photo, left). Collective:Unconscious artists have participated in several festivals, on and off site, including the New York International Fringe Festival
New York International Fringe Festival
The New York International Fringe Festival, or FringeNYC, is a Fringe theater festival and one of the largest multi-arts events in North America. It takes place over the course of two weeks every August, spread across several neighborhoods in downtown Manhattan, notably the Lower East Side, the...
, Underground Zero Festival, and the Downtown Arts Festival.
Artists who have participated in Collective:Unconscious include the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus
Bindlestiff Family Cirkus
The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus was founded in 1995 By Keith Nelson and Stephanie Monseu. Since then, they have toured the world with their mix of circus and sideshow...
, Christopher X. Brodeur
Christopher X. Brodeur
Christopher X. Brodeur is an artist, writer, and musician. Brodeur has been acquitted and found not guilty after being arrested and spending time in jail for harassing members of New York City's mayor's press office staff...
, Patty Chang
Patty Chang
Patty Chang was described as "one of our most consistently exciting young artists" by The New York Times in 2006. Originally trained as a painter, she is primarily known for her short films and videos and her performance art...
, Jessica Delfino
Jessica Delfino
Jessica Delfino is a controversial singer, songwriter, and comedienne based in New York City. Her songs tend to ridicule taboos and typically include jokes about vaginas and other sexual or dark topics. In her act, she plays an assortment of instruments including guitar, flying V ukulele and a...
, Faceboy
Faceboy
Francis "Faceboy" Hall is an actor, producer, and activist working in the New York City arts community. He has appeared in stage productions and several films, including Robert Downey Sr.'s Too Much Sun...
, Karen Finley
Karen Finley
Karen Finley is an American performance artist, whose theatrical pieces and recordings have often been labelled "obscene" due to their graphic depictions of sexuality, abuse, and disenfranchisement...
, Christian Finnegan
Christian Finnegan
Fletcher Christian Finnegan , better known as Christian Finnegan, is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor based in New York City.-Early life:Finnegan was born in Albany, New York...
, Lloyd Floyd
Lloyd Floyd
Lloyd Floyd, "the man of 1,036 voices" is a voice actor initially known for his work as the voice of DJ Hans Oberlander in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories as the main host of the show Bait and Switch in VCPR station as 'Larry Joe'. He voices Gary Guitar,...
, Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Garofalo is an American stand-up comedian, actress, political activist and writer. She is the former co-host on the now defunct Air America Radio's The Majority Report. Garofalo continues to circulate regularly within New York City's local comedy and performance art scene.-Early...
, Joey Gay
Joey Gay
Joseph Vincent "Joey" Gay is an actor/comedian who appeared in Last Comic Standing 4 but he lost and was voted off. He has had numerous appearances in Law & Order, and appeared on Live at Gotham.-External links:*...
, Andrew J. Lederer
Andrew J. Lederer
Andrew J. Lederer is a New York-based comedian who has also starred in low-budget movies and worked in writing and production.-Early life:Growing up in New York City, Andrew appeared as a vocal soloist with the Brooklyn Borough-Wide Chorus, both in live performance and on CBS-TV...
, Jonny McGovern
Jonny McGovern
Jonny McGovern , also known by his character name The Gay Pimp, is an American stand-up comedian, musician and podcaster. He has recorded three albums as comedic singer The Gay Pimp, and is also a cast member of Logo's The Big Gay Sketch Show.-Early life:Jonny McGovern was born to Mary McGovern and...
, Rev. Jen Miller
Rev. Jen Miller
Reverend Jen Miller is an American performer, underground movie star, writer, painter, director, preacher, and poet from Manhattan, New York City.- Activities :Miller writes the "Diary of an Art Star" column for Artnet and wrote the "I Did It for...
, Michael Portnoy
Michael Portnoy
Michael Portnoy is an American multimedia artist, choreographer, musician and actor. He calls himself a "Director of Behavior".-Performance artist:...
, the Trachtenberg Family Slideshow Players, and Nick Zedd
Nick Zedd
Nick Zedd is an American filmmaker and author based in New York City. He coined the term Cinema of Transgression in 1985 to describe a loose-knit group of like-minded filmmakers and artists using shock value and black humor in their work...
. A detailed list of these performances can be found at the Fales Collection at the Bobst Library of New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
.
Lower East Side theater
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1994. In recognition of its sordid history, the first open performance in the space was also named "Cucho Tailor". Thousands of performances followed until 2004. In addition to hosting a number of unique series such as Reverend Jen's Anti-Slam
Anti-Slam
Anti-Slam is a movement that was started more than a decade ago by Rev. Jen Miller at a venue called Collective: Unconscious,in reaction to the Poetry Slam movement on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The timely event has spawned a movement of non-traditional performance among Lower East Side...
and Faceboy'z Open Mic
Faceboy
Francis "Faceboy" Hall is an actor, producer, and activist working in the New York City arts community. He has appeared in stage productions and several films, including Robert Downey Sr.'s Too Much Sun...
, Collective:Unconscious has also hosted several festivals, including the New York International Fringe Festival
New York International Fringe Festival
The New York International Fringe Festival, or FringeNYC, is a Fringe theater festival and one of the largest multi-arts events in North America. It takes place over the course of two weeks every August, spread across several neighborhoods in downtown Manhattan, notably the Lower East Side, the...
, the Downtown Arts Festival, and the New York Lower East Side Film Festival.
The Collective at Ludlow Street shared a place in New York's off-off-Broadway and performance art theater history, along with fellow performance spaces in the neighborhood such as Surf Reality
Surf Reality
Surf Reality's House of Urban Savages, also known as Surf Reality, was a 65 seat performance venue on Manhattan's Lower East Side from 1993-2003...
, Todo Con Nada (Nada), Gargoyle Mechanique, The Present Company, House of Candles, and Pianos (Theater). It was noted as "entry-level Bohemia and thoroughly casual" by The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
.
The Collective seated approximately 75 people in the main floor, and occasionally opened areas on the second floor and in the basement for special events, such as the annual "Auto-Historical Event" anniversary performance. As a commercial space Collective:Unconscious faced repeated increases in rent over the decade, which ultimately drove the Collective theater (as well as Surf Reality
Surf Reality
Surf Reality's House of Urban Savages, also known as Surf Reality, was a 65 seat performance venue on Manhattan's Lower East Side from 1993-2003...
, The Present Company
The Present Company
The Present Company is a theater company in New York City and the producing organization of the New York International Fringe Festival....
, House of Candles, and Todo Con Nada, among others) from the Lower East Side. The Collective:Unconscious theater was vacated in 2004, and subsequently demolished. As of 2010, the empty lot remains undeveloped.
Tribeca theater
Jonny Porkpie
Jonny Porkpie is a New York City-based writer, director, and performer in neo-burlesque. So called for his pork pie hat, Jonny Porkpie creates and hosts scripted theme-based burlesque shows as part of his production company, Pinchbottom, as well as solo productions under the title "Jonny Porkpie's...
and Nasty Canasta
Nasty Canasta
Nasty Canasta is a character in the Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes series who made appearances in three cartoons. Created by animator Chuck Jones, Canasta is depicted as a tough, hulking, and brutish-looking outlaw. He was originally voiced by John T...
, the annual Underground Zero festival, the New York International Fringe Festival
New York International Fringe Festival
The New York International Fringe Festival, or FringeNYC, is a Fringe theater festival and one of the largest multi-arts events in North America. It takes place over the course of two weeks every August, spread across several neighborhoods in downtown Manhattan, notably the Lower East Side, the...
, Shifting Ambition Theater's No Alarms (Headfullofradio), and many others. Among the headliners were Karen Finley
Karen Finley
Karen Finley is an American performance artist, whose theatrical pieces and recordings have often been labelled "obscene" due to their graphic depictions of sexuality, abuse, and disenfranchisement...
and Neal Medlyn, Mike Daisey
Mike Daisey
Mike Daisey is an American monologist, author, and actor best known for his full-length extemporaneous monologues. His breakthrough work 21 Dog Years is an account of life as an Amazon.com employee during the dot-com boom. Since that time he has created monologues about Nikola Tesla, L...
, Annie Sprinkle
Annie Sprinkle
Annie M. Sprinkle is an American former prostitute, stripper, pornographic actress, cable television host, porn magazine editor, writer and sex film producer...
('Exposed: Experiments in Love, Sex, Death and Art'), and East River Commedia.
In July 2008, the Tribeca facility had to be abandoned due to a sewage situation. Collective:Unconscious, as an artistic organization, is currently reconstituting into a new art form.
See also
- Surf RealitySurf RealitySurf Reality's House of Urban Savages, also known as Surf Reality, was a 65 seat performance venue on Manhattan's Lower East Side from 1993-2003...
- ABC No RioABC No RioABC No Rio is a social center located at 156 Rivington Street on New York City's Lower East Side that was founded in 1980. It features a gallery space, a zine library, a darkroom, a silkscreening studio, and public computer lab...
- Art StarsArt StarsArt Stars is a group of experimental performers, comedians, poets, storytellers, musicians, and performance artists located in and around New York's Lower East Side. Appropriated by the New York Lower East Side open mic performance scene, the term "Art Star" was first coined by Andy Warhol. As...
- Performance Space 122Performance Space 122Performance Space 122, generally known as P.S. 122, is a not-for-profit arts organization and one of the longest standing venues dedicated to contemporary performance art in New York City. Founded in 1979 in the abandoned Public School 122 building at 150 First Avenue at East 9th Street in the East...
- Upright Citizens BrigadeUpright Citizens BrigadeThe Upright Citizens Brigade is an improvisational comedy and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The most recent incarnation consists of Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh...
- Gargoyle Mechanique
- Pinchbottom Burlesque